


A Long Awaited Housewarming

by alessandralee



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 08:36:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1421716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/pseuds/alessandralee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thea, Sara and Felicity visit Laurel after her move to Blüdhaven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Long Awaited Housewarming

**Author's Note:**

> This is a companion to my other Arrow fic, Bon Voyage. You don't need to read it to understand this one, just know that Laurel has moved to a new city for a fresh start and a new job.

“So what are you doing this weekend?” Felicity asks as soon as Laurel picks up the phone.

“Take-out and tackling the last of my unpacking,” Laurel responds, eyeing the last of the boxes that have been sitting in her living room since she moved in a little over two months ago.

“So nothing that can’t wait, then?”

“I guess. Why?”

“Because Thea’s already booked plane tickets and hotel rooms for the weekend?”

“Oh.” Laurel’s surprised, but not necessarily opposed to the idea.

“She says we all need a girl’s weekend and she wants to make sure you’re not living in a cardboard box on the side of the road. She even talked Sara into taking a few nights off. But really, I think it has more to do with the recent string off awful first dates she’s been on.”

“How many?” Laurel can’t help but ask. The lawyer in her needs to assess the situation.

“Six in a month, which I didn’t even know was possible. Plus a horrible night of speed-dating that was probably my fault.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’m in. There’s a restaurant a few minutes away that I’ve been wanting to check out since I got here, and a club that I’ve heard good things about. Tell Thea I’ve got Saturday night taken care of.”

“Great. We’ll see you Friday. Thea says to expect a party.”

“Of course she does.”

_______________________

Laurel’s only been in her apartment for 10 minutes Friday evening when she text from Thea.

_10 minutes away. Are you home yet?_

She groans. This morning she was so excited to see everyone, but it’s been a long day and she’s completely wiped out. There’s nothing she wants more than to devour half a pizza and fall asleep in front of the TV. But she sends a text back saying she can’t wait to see them and then puts away the small pile of briefings that have accumulated on her coffee table.

She’s almost done tidying up when her doorbell rings. After a short exchange with Felicity she buzzes them up and starts the dishwasher.

She can see them coming down the hall from the peephole in her door and opens it to greet them.

“Laurel,” Felicity says as she wraps her in a hug, ‘it’s so good to see you.”

“I missed you,” Laurel replies, pulling her in a little closer.

It’s not until now, with her friends actually here, that she realizes exactly how much she’s missed them. She’s starting to make friends at the DA’s office and in her building, but these women make the opposite side of the country feel like home.

“How does Blüdhaven compare to Starling?” Thea asks, completely obscured by the large, leafy plant she’s holding in her arms.

“It’s not bad, but it doesn’t have you guys. Come in and put that down,” she opens the door wider, glad Thea decided to get her a plant as a housewarming gift and not on of those metallic abstract art pieces she was favoring when Laurel left Starling.

Felicity and Thea file past her, and Sara pauses to give her a tight hug.

“I missed you,” Sara tells her.

“I missed you too. How’s dad? How was,” Laurel pauses, trying to remember where Sara’s travels had taken her last, “Crete? Dad called me every day while you were gone, but he’s backed off since you got back.”

“Cyprus,” Sara corrects with a laugh. “It was good, but I’m glad to be home now. Dad’s good, but a little obsessed with a case right now. I keep having to reminded not to skip dinner. And he insists on cooking for me once a week.”

“That sounds like Dad.”

They join Thea and Felicity in the living room, where Thea is already trying to find the right place to put the giant plant she brought. For a moment Laurel wonders how she got the plant onto a plane, but then dismisses it as something that probably isn’t that hard to do when you’re a billionaire. 

“What do you think?” Thea asks.

Right now, she has the plant standing next to the couch, but the way she’s looking at it makes it clear she’s not thrilled with the location.

“How about by the window?” Felicity suggests.

Thea drags it over the a corner near the window.

“Perfect,” Laurel says, as Thea steps back and gives a nod of approval.

“This place is perfect,” Thea adds, walking over for her turn to hug Laurel.

Laurel knows that’s high praise coming from Thea, whose own apartment is in a constant state of redecoration.

“Thanks. Do you want the full tour?”

“Later,” Thea glances at the oversized gold watch on her wrist. “We should decide what we’re doing for dinner. Do you want to go out?”

Admittedly, Laurel feels a lot more energized now that her friends are actually here, but it’s still been a long week. She’s just not up for a Thea Queen Night On The Town. Fortunately, Sara and Felicity seem to pick up on this.

“I’m kind of tired from the flight,” Sara says. 

“Me too,” Felicity agrees. “Maybe we can just order something in and relax.”

“Fine,” Thea acquiesces, “but only because there’s so much to catch up on.”

They decide on Chinese food, which Laurel already has a favorite place to order from, and all collapse onto he couch and armchairs in Laurel’s living room. She thinks that maybe Sara and Felicity weren’t just covering for her, because Felicity looks ready to doze off in her seat, and even Sara looks a bit out of it.

“Lots of late nights recently?” she asks them.

“Yeah,” Felicity tells her, “but it’s over now. I think.”

“Let’s just say we’ve earned a few nights away.,” Sara adds, before starting a story about Roy and an assassin called Cheshire. She wraps it up quickly, and even though she wants more details, Laurel doesn’t push for them. She can tells Thea is still uncomfortable hearing about Roy and his relationship with her friends, even though it’s been nearly a year since she ended things with him for good.

When the food arrives, The and Laurel argue about paying for it. Laurel wins, but Thea insists that tomorrow night’s more expensive dinner is on her.

“While they eat, Laurel catches them up on her life in Blüdhaven, which is uneventful, but promising. The wants every detail of her love life, but there really isn’t much to report. There’s a guy she’s been spending a lot of time with since she got here, who works for the local police department. Sometimes she thinks they’re headed towards more than friendship, but then sometimes she doesn’t think she wants to go there. Her job eats most of her time, she’s not sure there’s enough for relationship. And she’s a bit scared. She doesn’t actually admit that last part to anyone.

They’re all polishing off bowls of Ben and Jerry’s, completely depleting the stock in Laurel’s freezer, when the conversation turns to Thea’s dating life.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she insists, but clearly she does because she regales them with her horror stories from the last month. 

First there was the guy who spent the entire date talking down to her because she decided not to go to college.

“And I’m still more successful than he’ll probably ever be,” she notes.

Then there was the guy who was permanently attached to his cell phone, he guy who wouldn’t shut up about his board, the guy who cried over his ex at the dinner table, the one who turned out to be a corporate spy, and the one who turned out to be an actual assassin.

“So then Sara and Ollie show up at his place, in costume of course. It’s a shame there was so much blood on his carpet, it was gorgeous.”

She ends with the speed-dating mishap Felicity mentioned on the phone earlier that week. She’s been nervous about it, after her last date ended with an attempt on her life, so Felicity offered to coach her through it over comms. Only Felicity was interrupted by a bank robbery, and Thea had to fend for herself.

“It’s well after midnight when Thea and Felicty leave for their hotel. Sara insists on crashing on Laurel’s couch, so she can catch her up on family stuff. They agree that Sara will spend tonight at Laurel’s and then both of them will stay at the hotel tomorrow night.

They make plans to meet for brunch the next morning at 11.

Sara and Laurel don’t get to do much catching up that night, because Laurel can barely keep her eyes open. Sara gets the basics, though. Her father continues to worry about her, although Sara manages to keep him from calling every day. Sara’s planning another trip, part of the continued celebration of her freedom from the League of Assassins. She’s thinking about visiting their mom before she goes, and Laurel suggests they go together. She promises to look into flights after Sara leaves, and then they both call it a night.

_______________________

After a full day of shopping (and more arguing over Thea’s desire to pay for everything, which included sparkly pumps for Felicity, a leather jacket for Sara, and a bracelet for Laurel, all of which they refused to accept), they all agree that they’re legs are too tired for a night of clubbing. Actually, Laurel, Thea, and Felicity agree, Sara’s training means that a few hours of walking doesn’t really affect her. But she agrees to go for coffee instead.

Laurel’s favorite coffee shop isn’t huge, but it’s fairly busy despite the Starbucks a few blocks down. Laurel found it her first week in town, and she’s already become a regular, largely because their espresso can keep her up through even the most boring case file.

When she barista asks if she’ll be having her regular, she declines and opts for an herbal tea. She’s over-caffeinated most of the time, so she’ll take her calm when she can. Thea orders a mocha, Sara a black coffee, and Felicity something Laurel doesn’t catch the name of, but involves multiple syrups and a shot of espresso. Clearky, someone is determined to catch a second wind.

They settle in at a corner table, Laure facing Felictiy and the tan walls of the coffee shop. Thea has to take a call from one of her philanthropy initiatives, so she excuses herself for a few minutes.

“What’s going on with Roy and the assassin?” Laurel asks, now that Thea is distracted.

Felicity looks frustrated thinking about it, and Laurel wonders if maybe she shouldn’t have asked.

“We sent him undercover in hopes he could get some information from her and he disappeared for a while. No checking in, no signs of him at all. When he finally did turn up, he refused to talk about what happened, and she’d already gone completely off the grid,” Sara explains.

“And now all he and Oliver do is argue,” Felicity adds.

“Isn’t that all they did before?”

“I thought so, but this is much worse. Roy’s fighting is messy, and he’s completely distracted except for when he’s yelling at Oliver. Not to mention the fact that half the time he doesn’t show up when we need him.”

“I’ve tried trailing him, but he’s disappeared on me both times,” Sara says, which surprises Laurel.

“Things have been really tense,” Felicity says, and adds, “so you can see why we’re happy to get away for a bit.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Laurel can see Thea returning, which forces Sara and Felicity to wrap things up.

“Hopefully Roy and Oliver are both in one piece when we get back. Digg’s been pretty good at managing them,” Felicity finishes.

“So tell me,” Thea drapes her jacket on the back of her chair, “what are our plants for the rest of the night?”

“Movie?” Laurel suggests.

“Bar?” Felicity offers. “Or not,” she reconsiders with an apologetic glance towards Laurel.

“Or we could glare angrily at complete strangers,” Thea says, and it seems to be aimed at Sara.

But when Laurel looks over at her, she’s stopped glaring and is now looking at Thea with wide eyes.

Laurel looks around the room, trying to figure out whom Sara might have been glaring at, to no avail. However a familiar face does catch her attention.

“Dick,” Laurel calls out to a man a couple of tables over.

He’s conversing with another guy, who looks like he might a bit younger than Thea. But when he hears Laurel’s voice, he head turns towards them. He smiles at her and walked over to their table.

“Everyone, this is Dick,” she introduces him. “He works for Blüdhaven PD and completely saved my ass my first week on the job.”

Thea’s eyebrows raise at the mention of the police department, remembering what Laurel had said last night about a maybe romance with an officer there. Sara, on the other hand, looks a bit hostile.

“Saved your ass?” Sara asks, with a definite edge to her voice.

Laurel shoots her a look, trying to figure out what’s going on with her sister.

“I just helped her find some files,” Dick explains.

Felicity’s eyes are bouncing back and forth between Dick and Sara with concern. The fact that the two of them are reacting like this, and Thea isn’t makes Laurel think Sara’s hostility has something to do with vigilante business.

She just hopes she hasn’t been spending her time with some sort of mass murderer.

Thea makes small talk with Dick, asking about his job and whether he has any recommendations for things they should do before they leave town. Sara still looks wary, but she definitely becomes more relaxed as she listens to them chat.

Laurel knows she should probably talk to Sara about this before she leaves, but a part of her doesn’t want to. Sara would seek her out and tell her if Dick was dangerous. So if she doesn’t, Laurel rationalizes, maybe it’s not a big deal. And quite frankly, Laurel thinks she might prefer to live in ignorant bliss.

Eventually Dick excuses himself to get back to his table. He’s with his brother, who Laurel thinks she might have seen in a couple of the photos in his apartment.

“He’s cute,” Thea says once he’s out of earshot. “Nice ass, too. Too bad his only suggestion for things to do was a Blüdhaven Bloodhounds game. I guess it’s going to be a movie night.”

“I hope I can stay awake for a movie,” Felicity says.

“With all the sugar and caffeine in that drink, I’d expect you to be wired for the next week,” Sara teases. Whatever tension there had been in Dick’s presence, has now disappeared.

They put on their jackets and walk to the theater. Laurel tries to pay attention to the debate on what movie they should see, but her mind keeps coming back to Sara’s strange reaction. Maybe she will ask her about it.


End file.
